Memory Lane
by Arayllin
Summary: He was no longer Robin – he was Richard Grayson, and nothing could change that. He had known things would never be the same… OFF HIATUS
1. Moving Day

Starfire held back tears as she packed her bag, looking around her empty room and slowly placing her remaining possessions into her suitcase. She sniffed - this was the worst day of her life. She had known it was coming for a long time now, and yet it was the one day she had hoped would never come:

It was Beast Boy's 20th birthday.

She took one last, longing look around her room and pulled her luggage outside. Entering the main room, she realized that she was the last to arrive – each of her friends had their own bags surrounding the sofa where they were all sitting silently. The TV was turned on to some cooking show, but no one was paying any mind to it. They were just staring out into space for the most part – with the exception of Robin, who was staring up at Starfire.

"Hey, Star." he said quietly, so quietly that she almost missed it.

"Greetings." she replied softly, setting her luggage down and squeezing onto the last space on the sofa, right beside him. Silkie climbed up her leg and settled on her lap, strangely quiet. Everything was silent for a few awful moments, until Cyborg spoke up,

"So … happy birthday, B.B." he said, hardly able to keep his voice from cracking.

"Yeah." Robin attempted a smile, but gave it up quickly, "Congrats."

Beast Boy threw his arms up in the air, "Man, this sucks!" he cried, "Why do we even have to do this?"

"We've already told you," Raven said flatly, "Multiple times."

"Well tell me again."

"We aren't kids anymore, Beast Boy," Robin began slowly, "We need to move out, go to school, get our own homes…" he glanced over at Starfire, "Start a family. We always knew this day would come – we can't stay here forever. You're the youngest of all of us, and we agreed long ago that, come your 20th birthday, we would … move on." Beast Boy sighed deeply,

"We couldn't just change our name? We don't have to be the _Teen_ Titans, you know. Just the 'Titans' would work too!" The room was silent, and Beast Boy knew he had received his answer. "But who's going to fill in for us? Most of the other Titans have already retired – somebody's got to fight crime around here!"

He knew arguing was useless – Robin's mind was made up, and Beast Boy knew his leader was right. However, there was a part of him that just didn't want to let it go. He couldn't just give everything up like that – crime-fighting was all he had ever known, it was his life. This was his home, _this_ was his family. How was he supposed to forget about all they'd been through together? How could he simply leave it all behind?

"Look, B.B., we all know it's time." Cyborg looked at his best pal with tears in his good eye and a sympathetic look on his face, "We're adults now – we need to live our lives." Beast Boy nodded miserably, he _did_ know it was time to quit… he just didn't feel it.

"How long do we have?" he asked.

Robin glanced up at the clock. "Till noon." He said, just as the Jump City clock struck eleven.

DONG, DONG, DONG,

"Noon!" Beast Boy wailed.

DONG, DONG, DONG,

"That's only an hour," Cyborg sighed.

DONG, DONG, DONG,

Starfire hugged Silky tightly to her chest, trying to hide the tears filling her eyes.

DONG, DONG.

"We have one hour, Titans." Robin said solemnly, "What do you want to do?"

* * *

"Boo Yah! PIZZA!" Cyborg cried, flopping into their usual booth on the balcony, "Let's order the all-you-can-eat Meat Lover's! Mmmmmm … meat!"

"Dude! It's my birthday, so I get to choose what we order!" Beast Boy retorted,

"No way am I eating any o' your fake vegetarian stuff!"

"Hey – I happen to _like_ that 'fake vegetarian stuff'!"

"Well, _I _don't!"

Robin rolled his eyes at the bickering men, and got up to order the pizza.

"Would you two puh-lease shut up?" Raven asked angrily, closing her eyes in an attempt to drown out the growing noise. "You're giving me a headache." They ignored her however, and didn't stop their argument until Robin returned with _two_ pizzas – one meat, one veggie - and then didn't say another word until both boxes were empty.

"Ahhhhh." Cyborg leaned back in his chair, contented, "Nothing hits the spot like a hot, meaty pizza, huh, Beast Boy?"

"You mean a veggie pizza, right?"

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do!"

"How would you know what I mean?"

"How would _you_ know what _I_ mean?"

"What are you talking about, man?"

"I don't even know!"

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"I don't care!"

They went on like this for a while, ignoring Starfire's multiple peace-making attempts, until the other three Titans simply got up and walked away. Even then, it took them a few minutes to actually realize that they were alone, but they quickly made up and ran out of the pizza place, meeting up with Raven, Robin and Starfire out by the doors.

"It's about time." Raven commented. Robin shook his head.

"That took a bit longer than I would've liked, but we still have a little over half an hour left."

"But what should we do now?" Starfire asked. Cyborg and Beast Boy thought about it for a minute, and then turned to beam at each other,

"ICE CREAM!"

* * *

"Some people never grow up." Raven frowned, "Look at them – they're twenty years old!" Robin couldn't help but smile as he watched Beast Boy and Cyborg dancing around the ice cream man, grinning like little children.

"That's not necessarily a bad thing, Raven." he said softly, looking around at all of his friends. He turned to face her, "Have you found a place to live yet?"

She nodded her head, returning the question: "Have you?"

"Yeah." Robin too nodded, "It's not too far from the Tower actually. You're not … leavingJumpCity, are you?"

He let out a sigh of relief when she shook her head – he had already asked the other Titans, and so far it looked like they were all staying in the city. It would be nice to maybe visit one another once in a while. They were giving up crime-fighting, but that didn't mean they had to give up each other.

"Do you have any plans yet for the future?" he asked casually, wondering what she was planning on doing once she was on her own.

"Not yet. I'm just working on moving out of the Tower for now."

Robin nodded again. "Me too. I might go back to school, but maybe not… who really knows?"

"Who knows…" she echoed, growing silent.

Starfire walked over to stand in between them, "Will you come with me to the mall of shopping, Raven?" she asked suddenly, looking over at her friend eagerly.

Sighing, Raven shrugged. "I guess it couldn't hurt. You'll be fine with these two?" she asked Robin, nodding towards the remaining Titans and their melting ice cream cones.

"No problem."

"Great. See you." Starfire quickly grabbed Raven's hand before she could change her mind, and ran off in the direction of the Jump City Mall.

Robin smiled as he watched them go – some 'girl time' would probably be good for the both of them, but felt a sudden pang of sadness knowing they didn't have much longer. He walked over to Cyborg and Beast Boy.

"Hey, Robin!" Cyborg cried as soon as he was within hearing range, "Can we go to the arcade?"

Robin stared at him, unsure if he had heard right. "The arcade?" he repeated incredulously. Beast Boy and Cyborg nodded and skipped off towards the large building, without even waiting for an answer.

_Great,_ he thought, following slowly behind them, _they're in one of their childish moods again… Lucky me._

* * *

About twenty minutes later, Raven and Starfire walked out of the mall. Starfire was chattering away merrily, and Raven looked about ready to strangle the alien, but that was nothing unusual.

"I can't believe I found this!" Starfire cried, holding up a purple skirt identical to the one she was wearing, "I've never seen anything so lovely!" Raven rolled her eyes and continued forward, thoroughly worn out from all the walking and chattering Starfire had done. _Where does she get the energy?_

"Oh, look!" Starfire called out, pointing to three men heading for them, "it's the boys!"

Looking up, Raven saw that it was indeed Beast Boy and Cyborg coming towards them, with their exhausted leader trailing behind. As soon as Robin and Raven got a good look at each other, they nearly laughed aloud. It was clear both Titans had been through a lot in the past twenty minutes – Robin trying to keep the other two out of control and Raven being dragged through an extensive shopping mall.

"So how much time do we have left now?" she asked. Robin shrugged, and Cyborg checked his arm.

"About fifteen minutes, I think," he said, suddenly serious, "We should probably be getting back to the Tower now, huh?" When Robin nodded, Raven summoned her dark energy and whisked them all away.

Once inside Titan's Tower again, the Titans went to the sofa and sat back down where they had been before. When no one said anything, Beast Boy blurted out,

"What are the other Titans doing today?"

Robin raised an eyebrow. "The honorary Titans?"

"The ones who are still at work… and Titans East."

"Well, most of them are retiring too," he explained, "I think Titans East is splitting up throughSteelCity, and the honorary Titans are returning to their ordinary lives."

"But then who's going to protect the world?" Beast Boy cried,

"There are other superheroes out there, you know," Raven told him, "They can take care of it."

"But … but … they're not _us_! Besides, there aren't as many of them as there are Titans!" he turned to Robin, distraught, "How can you just give up the team like this?"

"I'm not giving up anything, Beast Boy," he replied slowly, "I'm just … moving on."

"We've already been through this, B.B.," Cyborg said, "It's time."

Beast Boy sighed. "I know. But why does it seem like I'm the only one who's going to miss you guys?" He could feel tears stinging in his eyes, and, not wanting to seem like a kid, looked away from his teammates.

"You are not the only one, friend," Starfire said softly, laying a hand on the man's shoulder, "I too will miss you all." There was a long silence, during which each Titan considered his own feelings about their decision. In their hearts, they all knew it was for the best, but it was a hard reality to face. Sure they would still see each other on occasion, but it would never be the same.

Soon, the clock strucknoon, interrupting their thoughts,

DONG, DONG, DONG, DONG, DONG, DONG, DONG, DONG, DONG, DONG, DONG, DONGGGGGGGG.

Slowly rising to their feet, and without a word, each Titan gathered their things and headed for the door, taking one last good look around the room they would likely never see again.

Once they were outside, Cyborg locked the door and scrambled the code, so no one could break in, and they all turned to face one another.

"I'm really going to miss you guys," Beast Boy said sadly,

"As am I," said Starfire, "Oh, friends, it has been glorious."

"It has." Robin said softly. With those final words, the ex-Titans hugged each other farewell, and turned to go their own ways.

"Oh, yeah, guys?" Cyborg said suddenly, stopping them in their tracks, "I forgot to tell you…"

"Tell us what?" Raven asked.

"I-I'm," the cyborg stuttered, "I'm engaged, y'all."

"What?" Beast Boy cried, "Since when?"

But he was already gone.


	2. Mr Stone

**(Fifteen years later)**

"Karen, honey! I'm home!" 37-year-old Victor Stone called to his wife as he walked in the door. He hung his coat in the closet and walked out of the kitchen towards the living room.

"Dad, you're back!" Victor's 10-year-old daughter Jynks ran over and jumped into his arms, a wide grin on her face, "You're finally back!" Victor laughed and smiled back, letting her go and heading into the living room.

"Did you miss me?" he asked, although the answer was already quite clear.

Jynks nodded vigorously. "Yup," she said, "I was waiting for you _forever_!" Victor's smile became a grin, and he plopped down on the sofa. Without missing a beat, Jynks curled up in his lap, looking up at him with her big eyes, and an equally big grin on her face. They sat there for only a few seconds before Karen Stone entered the room, a smile playing on her own lips.

"It took you long enough!" she joked, coming over to sit next to him on the sofa, "Jynks has been waiting to tell you about her first day in grade five." She said 'grade five' as if it was a great accomplishment, and Jynks beamed with pleasure.

"You want to hear about it, Dad?" she asked.

Victor nodded. "Of course I do, baby."

Jynks took a deep breath before starting, "Well, I made a new friend!"

Victor laughed, "Of course you did!"

Jynks crossed her arms, "Let me finish, Dad." She said playfully.

"Oh," Victor said sheepishly, "Sorry."

"S'okay." Jynks shifted her position and continued her story.

"Well, actually, I made two new friends. They're twins you know. It's really cool! They look the same and I can barely tell them apart except that the one doesn't talk much – she's really shy, and…"

"What are your friend's names, honey?" Karen interrupted softly, listening closely to her daughter's tale.

"Oh, right. Sorry. Their names are Awnii and Aisha. They're both the same age as me, Mom! Like I said, it's pretty neat. Anyway, they used to go to that private school across the city, but they had to move because their house was too small and their Mom's having a baby, and the baby needs a room and all. They have a big brother too, but I didn't meet him. They said–"

Victor cut her off with another laugh. "Whoa, tiger – slow down! I can't take in that much information at once!"

"Do they live nearby?" Karen asked. Jynks nodded,

"They moved onto Lakeside Street!" she said happily, her brown eyes aglow, "Number one-eleven. That's what Awnii said." Victor nodded to himself – Lakeside. That was only a street over from the Stone house, which was great. It was about time Jynks found some girls her own age to play with.

"Well that's great, honey!" he said sincerely, looking back to her.

"Yup!" Jynks climbed off of the sofa and went over to stand beside her mom, "Mom? Can I invite them over to play? Aaron can walk me over?" Karen thought it over for a moment before answering.

"Why not?"

Jynks grabbed her in a hug. "Thank you thank you thank you!" she cried, running to the door to throw her sneakers on. Karen smiled and stood up to find her son. He was probably in his room playing videogames. She never should have bought him that Gamestation…

Sure enough, she found him laying on the floor, a controller in his hand and monkeys flashing across the screen. The Mega Monkeys 5 game case lay open on the floor beside him, and he was so engrossed in the game that he didn't even notice her come in.

"Ahem," the boy jumped and, pausing his game, looked up at his mother standing in the doorway.

"Oh, sorry Mom," he said, "I didn't see you there,"

Karen rolled her eyes. "Clearly." She said, "Now turn off that game and get outside; you're walking your sister to her friend's house."

Aaron groaned, "But Mom…"

"Not buts Aaron. You need to stop spending so much time on video games – you're almost as bad as your father."

"I know Mom, but it's so much fun!"

Karen sighed, "Your sister's waiting for you."

"She can walk by herself Mom!"

"You can walk with her just as easily."

"But _why_?"

"Because I said so. Now get going!" Aaron, knowing he had lost, grabbed his jacket from the floor and walked past her on his way to the kitchen. Karen watched him go before turning to his room. There was only one shelf in his room, which was full of video game cases. The big TV on the floor had a few more games beside it, and a Gamestation3 lay beside those. There were clothes and school stuff everywhere – he had only been in school one day and already had managed to make a mess all over the floor of textbooks, notebooks, pencils, and everything else. Karen sighed, shaking her head; he was _just_ like his father – a full-out gamer.

With one last quick glance around his room, Karen headed back down the hall to the living room, where Victor was still sitting on the sofa.

"The kids left already?" she asked, sitting down beside him again.

"Yup."

"I'm glad Jynks found some friends to play with." Victor nodded, "It's been long enough."

"Nobody's gone near her since she got back to school last year." Karen's voice was sad, and Victor wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"Well then, maybe these girls will be good for her."

"Oh, I hope so, Vic, I really hope so."

* * *

The five kids walked down the empty street in silence. Awnii and Aisha's mother had gladly agreed to let them visit, and their older brother – who was Aaron's age – was only too glad to come along. The girls skipped ahead, and Aaron and Kiran had some time to themselves.

"So," Aaron said slowly, trying to break the awkward silence that enveloped them. "How's it going?" Kiran laughed,

"What do you mean how's it going? I just saw you like an hour ago at school!"

"Well … maybe something's happened between now and then?" Another laugh,  
"Whatever man."

The rest of the walk was spent in silence, but it wasn't an awkward silence – there was something about Kiran that got rid of that. He was so easygoing, so carefree, so laidback, so relaxed, so… Aaron laughed at himself – _enough with the synonyms._ Kiran looked at him funny, but didn't say anything, and they continued their walk in pure, uninterrupted silence.

* * *

Karen closed her eyes, feeling herself melt away into her husband's arms. It was moments like this that had kept her going through the worst of times – through the long, painful months now far behind. It was for times like this that she lived.

There was a sound as the front door swung open, and the sound of feet stomping on the tiled floor cut into the stillness of the room like a knife. Karen sat up just as the kids walked into the room.

"Oh," she said cheerfully, "hello there." She glanced at the girls behind her daughter, "You must be Awnii and Aisha." The one in front nodded, and she smiled, "It's nice to meet you."

"You too, Mrs. Stone," the girl smiled. _That must be Awnii,_ Karen thought, recalling what Jynks had said about the girls' personalities. Still smiling, she turned to thank her son for walking them home, when she noticed another boy standing beside him. She involuntarily raised an eyebrow, but before Aaron had the chance to say anything, the boy stepped forward.

"Afternoon, ma'am," he said, standing tall with a serious look on his face. His right hand went up to his forehead in a mock salute, and he said in a loud clear voice, "Lieutenant Kiran Logan at your service." His hand fell and he bent over in an overly dramatic bow, stepping back into his place behind Aaron when he was done.

Karen couldn't help but smile, staring at the unusually pale, bright-eyed boy in front of her. Without really thinking about it, she returned the salute, and watched as his smile quickly changed onto a crooked grin that seemed strangely familiar. Aaron seemed to be embarrassed by all that was going on, and Kiran made no complaint when Aaron dragged him off to his room. Awnii and Aisha exchanged a glance, rolling their eyes at their brother's antics, before heading after them to Jynks' room.

Amused, Karen turned back to Victor, only to find him deep in thought, and not looking too happy.

"Something wrong, Vic?" she asked lightly. The big man nodded,

"If there isn't, there soon will be."

Karen's amusement turned to confusion. "What do you–" her husband cut her off,

"We need to talk. Now." Still confused, Karen followed him through the spare bedroom to their room, where Victor checked the hallway before closing the door and sitting on the bed.

"Victor, what's the matter?" Karen asked, a little too harshly.

Victor grit his teeth, "I think we have a problem, Kare," he said slowly.

"So you've said."

"Look, Karen – didn't you hear what that kid said?" Victor's face grew serious, "What'd he say his name was?"

"Aaron's friend? I think it was Kiran. Why is that a problem? You're not making any sense."

"His name is Kiran _Logan_. Logan! Do you know what this means?"

"Uh, no. No I don't know what this means." Victor threw his arms up in the air,

"They're Beast Boy's kids, Karen! All three of them!"

Karen's eyes widened. "You're right," she said softly, remembering the last time they had seen their friends face-to-face – over seven years ago now, "They _are_ their kids."

"Exactly. And they're going to _our_ kid's school! That wasn't the agreement! We said we'd never give them a chance to meet!" Victor growled, "Oh, man is B.B. going to get it!"

Karen sucked in a breath, "Look, Vic, you need to calm down. First of all, his name isn't Beast Boy anymore. No more than you're Cyborg or I'm Bumblebee. It's Garfield. And secondly – we don't know how this happened, so we can't just jump to conclusions. We need to call him, figure this out. Calmly." Victor nodded,

"You're right of course," he said, "but, still… That li'l grass stain! He knew exactly where our kids were going and he had the nerve to move to our neighborhood. Who does he think he is? Does he think he can just–"

"Victor. That's not calm. And he isn't green anymore, remember? That stupid nickname doesn't even fit. He's as normal-looking as you and me now."

"Only 'cause I let him use my disguising technology!" Victor snapped, "Without the wedding rings we all wear, we still look the same!" To prove his point, Victor pulled the gold band from hiss finger, instantly changing his appearance to half-metal.

"Victor! Put that back on! What if one of the kids–" She was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Victor slipped his ring back on, and Karen opened the door a crack.

"Mom?" Jynks stood at the other side, a weird look on her face, "Uh, you guys okay?"

"We're fine sweetheart." She slipped outside, leaving Victor to compose himself, "What do you need?" Awnii and Aisha stood behind her, looking up at Karen with their matching gray eyes.

"Can we go outside? It's not very cold out."

Karen nodded, "Sure honey. Just don't leave the yard and come in if you get too cold."

"Okay. Thanks Mom!" Jynks ran back down the hallway, racing her friends to the door, and Karen ducked back inside.

"And _that_ is why we don't take our rings off."

Victor smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry – I just got worked up."

"I noticed."

"But seriously, we need to do something."

"I know, Vic. But what _can_ we do?"

"We can at least talk to B.B. and then go from there."

"Garfield."

"Whatever."

* * *

Rachelle Logan sighed and sank down on the sofa. It had been a long day, and her husband still wasn't home from work. She glanced up at the clock. 5:30. The kids should be getting home from their friend's house soon. She figured she should be starting dinner, but as soon as she got to her feet to do so, the phone rang. Nearly tripping over the two kittens – the family's newest addition – playing in the middle of the floor, Rachelle stumbled to the phone,

"Hello?"

"Hi, Rachelle. This is Karen Stone." Rachelle stiffened. Usually, a call from her friend would be nice, but Karen's tone sounded anything but nice, "I need to talk to you about something." Rachelle stepped back over the frolicking kittens and fell back onto the sofa.

"What's the problem?"

Karen hesitated. "Well," she said, "It's not so much a problem as it is … man are we in trouble!"

"Karen, what's wrong?" she asked dryly, not in the mood for games.

"Well, I don't know how to say this exactly, but … your kids … they…"

"Spit it out."

"They're at my house." Rachelle paused; she hadn't seen that coming at all.

"What do you mean they're at your house?" she said cautiously, ignoring the sudden feeling of dread in her stomach, "Why would they be at your house?"

"Awnii, Aisha and Kiran, right? Have any of them mentioned their new friends to you yet?"

"Well, yes, but…"

"Guess what." Suddenly, it dawned on her. The friends Awnii and Kiran had told her about…

"You've got to be kidding me."

"I wish I was Rachelle, but I'm not. Somehow, our kids ended up at the same school. And somehow they met each other. And now all of them are at my house getting to know each other more. This is terrible!"

Rachelle sighed, "It certainly isn't ideal."

"Rick's going to kill us."

"Probably."

Karen took a deep breath, "What do you think we should do?"

"What _can _we do? We can't transfer them again without any reason. Not to mention this is the only school this side of the city."

Now it was Karen's turn to sigh, "Look. Why don't you just talk to Garfield about it tonight and see what he thinks. I'll do the same with Vic, and we can talk tomorrow when the kids are in school. Sound good?"

"All right."

"We'll figure this out, Rachelle, don't worry about it."

"I wasn't worried."

"I know you weren't. Talk to you tomorrow, kay?"

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

Rachelle hung up the phone and lay down across the sofa, unsure of what she had just heard. This could turn out to be very bad. If their kids were in the same school, they could figure out their secret, and if they figured out their secret…

She didn't know how long she lay there, deep in thought, but soon the dog was jumping on her and barking like crazy. But she didn't need him to tell her what she already knew: Garfield was home.


	3. The News

Rachelle Logan pulled off her black robe and lay back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She hadn't been feeling well all day, and so Garfield had offered to get the kids into bed for her so she could relax for a while. The kittens were curled up at her feet, all played out for the moment, and she finally had the silence she had been longing for since Karen's call a few hours earlier. Rachelle hadn't told her husband the news yet – she hadn't had a chance to – but she knew she was going to have to soon. This was a potential problem, and it had to be resolved carefully.

She thought back to her conversation with Garfield only days before.

"Are you sure we should be enrolling them in a new school?" he had asked, "I mean, they won't know anybody, and they're comfortable in this neighborhood, this school. If we move now…"

"Garfield," Rachelle had sighed, "We have to move, and you know it."

"I know, but they aren't going to know anybody, and neither are we for that matter! What about your friends next door?"

"What friends?"

"Okay, my friends, but still!"

They had gone on like this for a while, but neither of them had even considered that this new school might be the same one as the Stone kids were going to. And what about Rick? She wasn't sure if Karen was going to tell him or not – but she certainly wasn't. He had a certain knack for… overreacting. He wasn't going to take this well at all.

As she lay there, fidgeting with the wedding ring on her hand, she started to grow tired. Though she had been planning to wait for Garfield to come back, she found herself yawning, and soon drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

"Hey, Rachelle?" A gentle hand on her shoulder roused her from her dreams, "Rachelle, babe, wake up." She opened her eyes slowly and found herself staring into the green ones of her husband.

"Is it morning already?" she asked sleepily, sitting up.

Garfield shook his head. "Not quite," he said, "but, uh…"A weird look crossed his face, and Rachelle realized that he was staring at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked warily, her hand instinctively reaching to brush her shoulder length hair back behind her ear. Garfield's own hand shot out and stopped hers where it was. He gently lifted it so she could see.

"I think your ring broke." Rachelle's eyebrows rose, her hand was much paler than usual, and she pulled away from Garfield and grabbed a lock of her hair. Purple.

"Great," she said, sighing softly, "It must have flickered off when I was playing with it." Garfield nodded, "Well," he said, "No harm done. Good thing I was the one who found you. I can't imagine what the kids would've done."

"Don't even imagine."

"Good idea." Garfield got off of the bed and went over to his dresser, pulling open the top drawer and rummaging around for a moment, "Thankfully, I got Cy to make us a few extras just in case." Finding what he was searching for, he turned back to his wife and sat down beside her again, handing her the small silver band in his fist. Rachelle stared at it for a moment, not saying anything, but then nodded and slipped it onto her ring finger.

Her pale skin instantly melted away into a more ordinary colour, and her hair changed to a dark chestnut. Though she couldn't see it herself, she knew her eyes had changed to brown as well, and the chakra gem on her forehead faded completely.

Garfield smiled at her, "There ya go," he said happily, "now you look like you." Rachelle tried to smile back, but failed and instead lay back again on the bed. Her husband's smile immediately gave way to concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked, leaning over her. Rachelle nodded.

"I'm fine," she replied slowly, trying to draw it out as best as she could, "But … I have bad news." The concern on Garfield's face grew more concentrated.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, I got a call from Karen Stone this afternoon…"

"So," Garfield still sat on the bed across from Rachelle, who was sitting up again, "what you're saying is that our kids are in the same school as Cy – er – Victor's?" she nodded, and he shook his head, "Great. Rob's not gonna be happy, is he?"

"I'm not too happy about it myself, Garfield." Rachelle said, "This shouldn't have happened."

"Yeah … but it did. We can't really do anything about it now can we?"

"No, but…"

"Rachelle." Garfield looked over at his wife, and their eyes met, "Are you sure we can't just tell them?" Rachelle took a deep breath before answering,

"Yes I'm sure," she said, keeping her eyes locked on his, "We may still have villains after us, Gar, we can't scare the kids with that. And what if they consider it bragging rights? The whole town would know who we were – including those who shouldn't. This needs to stay a secret."

"Yeah, but … I mean … it's been fifteen years Rachelle! Don't you think if someone was coming after us, they'd've shown up by now?"

"Not Slade."

"Dude, Slade is dead."

"He's been dead before, Garfield – it hasn't stopped him yet." This was met by silence – both knew she was right. After a minute or two, Garfield sighed and stood up,

"You're right," he said softly, "it's not safe. This has to be kept a secret – for our children's sake." She nodded, her eyes sad, and he leaned over. He gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek before turning again and leaving the room.

Rachelle stared at the door for long minutes after he disappeared through it, lost in thought. She must've fallen asleep that way, because the next thing she felt was Garfield's strong arms lifting her and tucking her into the covers of their bed.


	4. Old Friends

_**Author's Note: **Man has it been a while! Sorry for the long wait - this story has been on hiatus for over a year now, but I think I finally have an idea of what's going on. It may be slow going for a while, but I'm back nonetheless, and hoping for a good run!_

_For anyone who's read this story up to this point before - I'm going to suggest that you go back and re-read up to here, as I have re-written all three chapters prior. The story has remained the exact same, but I updated with better writing and little additions here and there, so it's certainly worth refreshing. And now, that said - here's chapter four!_

_Lemme know what you think!_

* * *

He stalked across the carpet, eyeing his prey – the small green butterfly that had been evading him for at least five minutes now. His puffy white tail flicked back and forth as he crept closer … closer … closer … and he pounced! The butterfly jumped out of the way just in time and dangled in the air right in front of his face. He pawed at it, claws out, but it was too high, so he soon gave up and instead curled up on the floor, frustration showing in his blue eyes.

Awnii laughed and scooped the kitten up into her arms, "You almost got it that time Blue!"

The toy clattered to the floor as she cuddled the squirming creature, finally letting it go when her mother walked into the room.

"Don't torture my kitten, Awnii." The traces of a smile lingered on Rachelle's face.

"Sorry Mom."

Blue seized the opportunity to run away to the kitchen, searching for his sister, Sara. Rachelle took a seat on the sofa, across from where Awnii was lying on the floor.

"You all ready for school?" Rachelle watched her daughter sit up, an unreadable expression on her tired face.

"Yup," Awnii smiled, "All set. We're going to meet Jynks at her house on the way to school… if that's alright with you." The last part was added in a rush, due to the strange look Rachelle had given her.

"That's fine."

Awnii beamed, "Thanks, Mom!" She hopped up and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck. Rachelle returned the hug, smiling herself.

"Now, can you go and wake up your brother for me?"

"…Can I pour a cup of water on his head?"

"If it'll get him up."

"Yes!" Awnii's fist pumped the air, and she raced off to the kitchen, nearly running into Garfield on his way into the sitting room. "Sorry, Dad."

He nodded, and headed over to Rachelle's side, sitting down beside her.

She looked up, "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"In a minute," he nodded, "We need to figure out what we're doing about this whole school thing."

"For now, nothing."

"Nothing?" Garfield looked shocked, "But…"

"We need to talk to Rick and the others first," Rachelle placed a hand on his arm, "and then we can figure out where to go from there."

Garfield nodded again, "Yeah," he said slowly, "You're probably right…" he stood up, "But I'm not calling him!"

Rachelle rolled her eyes,

"Oh don't worry," she said sarcastically, "I'll be sure to take care of anything _mature_ that needs to be done. You go and play with your animals."

"Thanks, I will." He leaned over and gave his wife a kiss, and then turned and left, "See you tonight, babe!"

Rachelle enjoyed a minute or two of silence, before the house erupted.

"Mom!"' Kiran came charging into the room, his hair wet and an angry look on his face, "Awnii poured water all over me while I was sleeping!"

"I know." Rachelle stood up.

"You know?" Kiran looked at her in disbelief, "But… she… I…" he growled, "I'm gonna get you for this Awnii!" he charged back down the hall, and Rachelle heard a scream as Kiran reached his sister's hiding place. The next thing she knew, they were racing each other around the house, flinging water in every direction. Garfield's terrier, Doom, was chasing around after them, his tail wagging and tongue flapping, and both kids were laughing.

Rachelle let them have their fun, but only for a few minutes – they had to get going to school soon.

"Alright, alright!" She held up a hand, and Kiran and Awnii paused.

"Aw, c'mon, Mom!" Kiran held out his arms, "I was just about to get her!"

"Oh, _sure_ you were!" Awnii rolled her eyes, and Kiran splashed a cup of water in her face. Her mouth fell open as the water dripped down her wavy brown hair.

"Mom!" she cried, pointing a finger at him, "Did you _see_ that?"

Rachelle nodded, "Yes. Any other questions?"

Kiran laughed, and Awnii made a face.

"It was fair revenge," Kiran argued, "You woke me up!"

"You had to get up eventually!"

"Well you could've done it nicely!"

"What fun is that?"

"I dunno… but still!"

"But still what?"

"You don't dump a bucket of water on my face!"

"It was a cup!"

"It's the same thing!"

They went on like this for a while, but when Rachelle told them to get to school, they complied, throwing insults back and forth the whole way down the road. Aisha, confused, followed behind them quietly, wondering why on earth her siblings were so weird.

"You chased me through the house with a cup of water!"

"You chased me back!"

"Yeah, but you started it!"

"No, _you_ did! You poured water on my face!"

"Well, yeah… but it was so much fun!"

"I know!"

They met up with the Stone kids halfway between their houses, and walked the rest of the way to school together.

* * *

Meanwhile (drastic scene change here), somewhere deep beneath the earth in a place unknown to man, sinister things were happening. The sound of gears clanging against each other sounded in the still chamber, and the youth could hear nothing but the sound of his own breathing. He was wearing no shirt, and the hard metal table felt cold against his bare skin. He lifted his head to look around the room, which appeared to him empty, and then began struggling against the metal strips holding his arms and legs in place. His breathing soon became labored with the effort, and he was getting nowhere.

"Nice try." He jumped as a man entered the room, "But you aren't going anywhere." He walked slowly over to a metal desk – the only other thing occupying the small room. He began searching around inside, and the boy tried again to break free, though he knew it was useless.

The man turned to face him, and though he was wearing a mask, the boy knew that he was an older man – late forties, perhaps early fifties, and he knew the sadistic look in his eyes without having to see them himself.

He had a vague feeling of having known this man, a long time ago, but everything was hazy, and he no longer knew what was fact and what was fantasy. The only thing real to him was this man. This man and…

The masked man leaned over him,

"Are you ready to try again?"

* * *

When Karen had arrived at her home twenty minutes ago, Rachelle had certainly not anticipated the awkwardness that arrived with her. She had been offered tea, which she had politely declined, and then Rachelle had lead her into the living room, where they were now sitting. There was a short silence then, and Rachelle wondered why she had even invited her old firend over – they hadn't talked in years (which was sad, really). They didn't have much to say, until finally Karen broke the silence.

"So, then," She sat stiffly against the couch, doing her best to act like she wasn't uncomfortable, "What were you thinking we should do about all this?"

Rachelle leaned into the cushions, having no trouble being comfortable in her own home, and doing her best to act like she didn't notice Karen's horrible acting, "Well, Garfield and I talked it over last night," she said slowly, "And we figure that the best response would be to do nothing at all."

"…nothing?"

"Exactly." Rachelle shifted her position, knocking an indignant Blue from her lap and onto the floor, "At this point it would only raise suspicion if we were to switch schools again, especially two days into the new year."

"True…" Karen frowned, "And we really can't tell them not to see each other anymore, can we?"

"Not really," Rachelle sipped her own mug of tea, "Really, it would be in everyone's best interests not to make a big deal of it. What's the worst that could happen?"

"They could discover our secret," Karen suggested, but Rachelle just shrugged.

"And how would that happen? Unless they were looking for it, they would never be able to figure it out. The government searched for years, remember? Not to mention the numerous villains who were after us."

"I suppose so," Rachelle's idea was making more and more sense to Karen, and she found herself growing more comfortable as they lapsed into their old way of speaking, "It does seem to be unlikely."

"Indeed." Rachelle smiled tiredly, "I think we should just let it be; nothing's going to happen, and if it does we can deal with it then."

"Sounds like a plan then," Karen agreed, only too happy to move away from the topic of their discovery, "But I'm still not telling Rick."

Rachelle laughed, "Funny," she said, "My husband said the exact same thing."

"Fifteen years later, and he _still _scares us," Karen laughed, "Poor guy."

"Mmm," Rachelle nodded, reaching down to stroke Blue, who was rubbing up against her leg, purring.

"Is that your kitten?" Karen leaned forward suddenly, crinkling her suit as she watched the interaction.

"Yes," Rachelle pulled Blue off the floor and onto the couch between them, "This is Blue. The other one should be around here somewhere…"

"You have two kittens?"

"And a dog, rabbit, hamster, snake, fish, budgie, guinea pig, and two turtles."

"…you're kidding."

"Karen, I married _Beast Boy_, what did you expect?" Rachelle laughed, "We might be getting a pig, too."

"A _pig_?" Karen laughed as well, "Oh my. I suppose my kids will be wanting a pet soon, in that case."

"You don't have any?"

"Nope – we don't have the time or energy." Karen shrugged, "Vic's away during the day, and I'm always back and forth… it wouldn't be fair to the pet, you know?"

"Mmm, I do," Rachelle stroked Blue's head, watching Karen carefully, "What is it that you two do again?"

"Hmm?" Karen looked up from where she had been staring, which seemed to have been at Blue as well, "Oh, well Victor is a high school teacher – he does tech stuff for the most part. He's the head of the department; which is pretty good but eats up a lot more time."

"Oh really?" Rachelle smiled, "I don't think I actually knew that – cool."

"Yup," Karen seemed pleased as she went on, "He's good at what he does, or so I'm told."

"And you?" Rachelle prompted, "Last I heard you were a lawyer of some sort…?"

"I'm a lawyer, yes," Karen laughed, "Defense attorney, if you want to get specific. I work from home most of the time – I get special treatment from the boss – but I have to go to court for cases and meet clients and whatnot."

"Okay," Rachelle nodded slowly, "Guess you couldn't stay away from the criminals could you?" She smiled, and Karen laughed.

"Guess not."

The conversation took a lighter turn then, and soon the two had lapsed back into the feel of their old days. They were friends again, and both realized quickly that they had been avoiding one another for far too long.

"It's been forever since I last talked to any of you!" Karen said suddenly, "I haven't had contact with my own team in years, not to mention the others."

"I'm just realizing the same thing," Rachelle said softly, "I don't even know where most of them are."

"Well, I know that most of my old team still live in Steel City," Karen said, thinking, "Vic and I moved up here years ago, and we just lost contact…"

"It's sad, really," Rachelle shook her head, "We should all get together again sometime."

"We should," Karen nodded, "The last time we all hung out was what, thirteen years ago?"

"At our wedding," Rachelle recalled, "That was it wasn't it? None of us even went to Alan's…"

"No, I don't think we did," Karen shook her head, "It must have been your wedding then. That's horrible."

"It is," Rachelle agreed, "We should definitely get together again sometime soon. Or, the six of us who live in Jump City anyhow. Nothing too big."

"Six?" Karen counted it off on her fingers, "That would be you and I, Vic and Garfield, Kori and Rick, right?"

"Yup," Rachelle nodded, "Unless anyone else has moved to town?"

"Not that I've heard,"

"All right then." Rachelle smiled, finishing off the last sip of her tea, "Sounds like a date."


	5. Memory Lane

_**Author's Note: **__Fair warning – the last bit of this... err, _most_ of this, should probably be rated M, for "mushy crap that was really awkward to write". Just saying. _

_Also, this chapter is actually the original chapter from which I pulled the title of this story, though it wasn't so obvious in the first draft… oh well. Not much happens here, but it's leading up to something plot-related. Just hang on a little bit longer._

* * *

_The living room filled with the sound of screaming and stomping feet as the children chased each other in circles._

"_He's too strong!" The little girl yelled, her blonde hair flying out behind her as she ducked behind the sofa, "We can't defeat him, Robin!"_

"_Yes we can!" The boy beside her adjusted the mask on his face, "Trust me, Raven – we can do it!" He turned around to face her, taking his eyes off the creature looming towards them – a fatal mistake._

"_RAWWWRRR!" The creature roared, sweeping the boy off his feet and into a giant headlock._

"_Starfire!" The boy yelled out to his comrades, "Raven! Help me!"_

"_We're coming Robin!" Another girl, similar in appearance to the first, leapt out from behind a chair and together they charged the monster. Within moments it was on the ground, and the Tiny Titans attacked it with blankets, wrapping it up tight and sealing its fate once and for all._

"_We did it!" The little boy pumped his fist in the air, "Way to go Titans!"_

"_Yes!" His teammates joined in the celebration, which was cut short suddenly when the monster rose to his feet._

"_Good game, guys," He laughed, "You sure showed me!"_

"_Aww, Dad!" The Boy Wonder frowned, "You're not supposed ta get up!"_

"_But supper's almost ready!" The monster protested, laughing, "Can't you smell the pizza?"_

"_Pizza!" The children's eyes lit up, and all character was lost as they scrambled towards the kitchen, leaving their father behind to tidy up the mess._

"_Kiran, Awnii, Aisha!" He laughed again, "It's gonna be another minute – wait for me!"_

"Do you remember when they used to pretend to be the Titans?" Rachelle smiled at the memory, and Garfield couldn't help but laugh as he looked down at the pictures.

"How could I ever forget?" He shook his head, gently taking the photo album from his wife and flipping to another page, "You made them the best Titans costumes this world has ever seen."

"It was my first time sewing too," Rachelle admitted sheepishly, "Thankfully I had an old cloak lying around, which helped a bit."

"I noticed that none of them ever wanted to be me," Garfield frowned at the photos of his children, "Kiran was always Robin, and Awnii you… Aisha was Starfire – wasn't I cool?"

"Not really," Rachelle smiled, "Maybe the next one will dress up as you."

"I sure hope so," Garfield smiled down at her stomach, "You hearing this little guy?"

"Or if it's a girl…" Rachelle pursed her lips, "Bumblebee?"

"Or maybe Terra?" Garfield laughed when she scowled at the mention, "Or Kole?"

"Better." She leaned into him, "I guess we'll just have to see, won't we?"

"I can't wait."

They stayed silent for a while after that, just enjoying one another's company and flipping through the album. Neither one really knew why they had gotten it down – or why they were flipping through it at four in the morning – but they were both having a good time with it, walking down memory lane…

"Do you think…" Rachelle's words were so soft that for a moment Garfield wasn't even sure she had spoken. He looked down at her.

"Do I think what?"

Her face grew pink, and she looked down at the floor before finishing her thought, "My powers," her voice was still soft, and Garfield had to lean over to make them out, "They couldn't have… inherited our powers… could they?"

"I don't know," Garfield answered honestly – this was a conversation they had had before, "Did Star's kids inherit hers? Or how about Aqualad's? Nobody can know for sure… although most of us are pretty safe, aren't we?"

"Mmm," Rachelle met his eyes again, "You'd think we would know by now…"

There was another silence as the couple wrestled with their thoughts, until finally Garfield spoke up,

"We did do the right thing… didn't we? I mean, in not telling them?"

Rachelle sighed softly, "I don't know, Gar," she said honestly, "I really don't."

"Me too," He agreed sadly, "I just… I wish I did."

"Don't we all?"

* * *

He walked around the small island, sighing inwardly as the sun climbed in the sky above his head. It had been a while since his last visit, and he was eager to get inside but, as always, he had a nagging feeling that it was wrong – one that left him with a dull aching in his head every time. And yet, he told himself, almost laughing at the absurdity, he came back every time.

He forced open the metal doors (the passcode had long ago become obsolete), and stepped into the dimly-lit area. Making his way through the lobby and another set of doors (these ones were terminally open), he walked through the main room and sat himself down onto the table top.

Everything looked the exact same here – it was as if time had frozen, just in this one place. This one, special place.

Looking around his old home, Richard Grayson couldn't help but miss the way things used to be. It sounded ridiculous – even to his own ears – but life was much less stressful back then. He'd had a lot resting on his shoulders then, but in hindsight – he had a lot more now. Being a father and husband was a lot harder than crime fighting, that much he knew.

_If only we…_ He stopped himself, shaking his head and hopping down from the table. No more _what_ _ifs_. _This is the way things are now. I'm just going to have to live with it._ He walked over to the old couch, staring up at the bigscreen TV and remembering the times when he would play video games with his friends… _stop that._

He sighed, reminding himself that the past was in the past. He was no longer Robin – he was Richard Grayson, and nothing could change that. He had known things would never be the same when he first split up the team, so why did he still have these thoughts? Why did he still come here at all?

His wife Kori didn't know about these trips down memory lane… and he didn't want her to. She wouldn't want him returning here – and he didn't want to worry her. He already did enough of that on a daily basis.

As if in response to his thoughts, his cellphone trilled in his pocket, and Rick reached for it with lightning reflexes – salvaged from his time as a Titan, no doubt.

"Grayson," He answered automatically, and was met by his wife's frantic rambling.

"Rick! Where have you been – I could not contact you at your work!"

"I'm sorry, hon," Rick frowned at her tone – something sounded off, "Is everything okay?"

"No!" Kori's voice rose, and Rick started for the door of the Tower, "The school just called – there's some sort of problem and I have to go over there and–"

"Whoa, slow down there," Rick frowned, "The girls' school called our house? _Why?_"

"Your children are causing problems, Rick."

"_My_ children?" The ex-Boy Wonder laughed, "I'm pretty sure it's a two-way deal, but nice try."

"Oh, I do not know what to _do_ with them, Richard!" He heard the sound of a car starting up in the background, and figured she was on her way to the school, "It is only the third day of school and already I've had calls from both teachers!"

"I know, hon," Rick suddenly felt very tired, "I'll see what I can do tonight, okay?"

"Okay," She sighed softly, and Rick wished he was standing nearby to give her a big hug, "You should probably get to work."

"Probably," He checked his watch, exiting the Tower and sliding the doors shut as silently as he could, "I'll bet the chief is looking for me."

"Mmm," Kori paused a moment, as if considering something else to say, but seemed to think better of it, "I will see you tonight?"

"Absolutely," Rick promised, "As soon as I get off work." He climbed into his own vehicle, glad he had opted to leave the bike behind, "Don't worry too much about the girls, okay? You take care of the other kids – I'm sure it will all work out."

"Oh, I do hope so, Rick." She sighed again, "I just wish we could _do_ something to make this easier for them… for us."

"I know you do, hon." Rick said sympathetically, "Don't we all…"

* * *

"Are you feeling any better, sweetheart?" Karen peeked her head into her daughter's bedroom. She had stayed home sick today – after much protesting on Jynks' part – and Karen was doing her very best to ensure that she had a good day nonetheless. A mini TV had been set up in front of her bed, and a glass of coke sat on her night table, emptied long ago. The little girl looked up at her mother, smiling tiredly.

"Yes,"

"That's good," Karen sat down on the bed, reaching out a hand and rubbing Jynks' forehead, "You're cooling down; that's good."

"We don't have to go back to the hospital, do we Mommy?" Jynks asked suddenly, and Karen felt her heart breaking as she stared into the brown eyes of her little girl.

"No, baby, we don't," she said softly, bending over to give Jynks a hug, "You can stay right here where you belong."

"Okay," Jynks seemed satisfied with this answer, and leaned back into the cushions of her bed, "Mommy?"

"Yes, baby?"

"Can I call my friends after school maybe? I mean, if I'm feeling better – I want them to come over so I know what I missed."

"We'll see," Karen smiled, rising to her feet, "Let's just focus on getting better right now, okay? You still have hours until school's let out."

"…okay," Jynks agreed, turning her attention back to the TV as her mother snuck out of the room. Karen walked down the hall and through the living room, making it back to her office at the opposite side of the large house.

She sank down into her chair, staring at her laptop and the new case she had agreed to the day before. She was doing this one pro bono – free of charge. It was something she did every once in a while to pay the world back for its kindness towards her years ago.

She closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, suddenly flung back down memory lane – back into the world of hospitals and uncertainty and tears… not a place she liked to go very often. _Compared to this, Titans East was a walk in the park._

"I just wish it didn't have to be this way…" she thought aloud, blinking away sudden tears as she tried to get back into her work. _But then, don't we all…?_

* * *

"It's all been going so nicely…" Her blonde hair fell in her eyes as she protested, meeting his dark eyes as she tried to dissuade him, "We can't let it get in our way now!"

"I'm sorry, darling," Her husband's voice was tight, and his resolve threatened to waver, but he was firm, "This has to be done – it's for the better."

"But do we really have to split up?"

"Only for a short time," He turned then, taking her face in his hands and kissing her softly, "I have to protect our family, you know that."

"I… I know," She melted into his arms, and for a moment they did nothing but stand there, reveling in one another's company, until he pulled away again.

"I'll let you know how it goes as soon as I make contact, all right?"

"Okay," she nodded slowly, "You're going to find a place in Jump City, then?"

"I'll see if I can't stay with one of my teammates."

"_Ex _-teammates." She reminded him sternly, and he sighed.

"Yes," he agreed after a moment's pause, "_Ex_-teammates. Now can you go get the kids into bed? They're still upset with me because we're moving… again."

"Of course, darling," And with that, she left the room, leaving the former Titan alone to sort through his thoughts.

_Things just keep getting better and better._


End file.
